Mercenaries
turning up as Mercenaries.]] Mercenaries are groups of Normal Units seeking glory, or simply , by offering themselves into the hire of a Wizard. They are one of three different assets that may be presented for acquisition to players at the beginning of their turn. Although technically a random occurence, the Random Events setting has no impact on the appearance of Mercenaries - they will keep showing up even if this option is disabled. Mercenaries are always Normal Units, and their numbers, strength, and depend on three factors: the amount of that the target Wizard has accumulated, the size of their treasury and, of course, chance. However, they will never show up before turn 30, and are not available to banished Wizards either. If hired, Mercenaries are always deployed at the player's capital, and are ready to move or fight immediately on the same turn. Concept Mercenaries, or "sell-swords", are as old as physical conflict itself. Individuals or groups looking for fame, glory, or simply a way to make a living through fighting within the boundaries of law may turn Mercenary, and pledge their loyalty and combat prowess to a lord or other wealthy or influential patron. Unlike in some traditions though, Mercenaries in Master of Magic do not turn to the highest bidder, and will not change allegiance once hired. However, they do expect to be paid, including an often large sum up front, and will desert just like regular troops if their fees are not met. Effect At the beginning of each player's overland turns, the game performs a random roll to see if any Mercenaries will offer to join their cause. They are one of three assets that can be presented this way, with the other two being Heroes for hire, and Magical Items to purchase from a wandering Merchant. These occurrences are not exclusive, meaning that a Famous or fortunate Wizard may be offered all three in the same turn! The game's Random Events setting has no influence on any of these offers - they will still occur even if Events are otherwise disabled. Chance of Appearance The chance for Mercenaries to appear for hire on any given turn can range anywhere from 0% to 10%, although the zero value does not actually exist outside of any failed attempts to generate them. These include, among other things, the game not having progressed beyond turn 30 yet, the Wizard being banished, and a few other exceptional circumstances described in the section below. Other than these though, there is always at least a 1% chance of the game trying to generate a group of Mercenaries. This is increased by 1% for every that the target Wizard has, and the total is then doubled if they possess the Famous Retort. However, the final value is strictly limited to 10%. Unit Types As noted already, Mercenaries are always Normal Units. Which type of unit will be offered is entirely random, although there are a few notable exceptions. First and foremost, no Settlers of any Race will ever appear as Mercenaries. Triremes, Galleys, and Warships are also excluded. In addition, units from a Myrran or respectively Arcanian Race can only show up for Wizards who have a presence on the Plane in question. That is, they must either have a unit or Town on that Plane, or be in control of a Tower of Wizardry (i.e. be the last player to have had units on their tile). Other than these restrictions however, there are no limitations on the types of units that can appear for hire. Mercenaries often provide a great opportunity to recruit specialized units that may otherwise not be easily available to the player because of their starting Race, such as Engineers for example. Fortune and treasury allowing, they can also grant access to high-powered racial units such as Griffins, Paladins, War Trolls, or Warlocks, sometimes well before there are any Towns developed enough to be able to produce these. The program will make 20 attempts to generate a type of unit that matches the above criteria. It may be worth noting that when it rolls for the unit type, there are no exclusions - Heroes and Fantastic Units are only filtered out along with the other units mentioned above. This means that while very unlikely, the process can fail at this point, which will ultimately result in no Mercenaries being offered. However, this is extremely rare: out of 20 tries, there will be a suitable unit ~98.6% of the time even if only the Myrran ones are available, of which there are significantly fewer. On the other hand, the latest official version of the game does contain a bug that can randomly prevent Mercenaries from being generated by making a comparison to a previously uninitialized variable. Unfortunately, the frequency of this occurring is unknown, as it is very difficult to predict, since the target value likely changes from turn to turn. However, this error does not appear to have a major impact, and is corrected in the unofficial Insecticide patch. Once the game has selected an appropriate unit type, there is no turning back. At this point, it will determine the both the amount, and the of these troops. Yet, there is still one more check that can yield no offer in the end. If the Wizard does not have enough in their vaults to afford the chosen Mercenaries, they will not actually be presented for hire, and the player has to wait until the next turn for the computer to try again. Amount of Troops Each offer of Mercenaries always consists of exactly one type of unit. It is not limited to a single unit though, but can instead be a group of up to three. However, they can only be hired or rejected as a group in this case, not individually. It is also the total cost that determines whether the offer will be presented to the Wizard at all. That is, if they could afford only one, but the computer generated two, the chance is automatically wasted instead of being reduced to a single unit. How many units a group of Mercenaries contains is determined by a random roll between 1 and 100, added to the player's total . If the result is 60 or lower, there will only be one unit. Between 61 and 90 there will be 2, and if the roll is very high or the Wizard is particularly well-known, 3 units will be offered. Experience Mercenaries always come with some previous fighting . Exactly how much is determined by a random roll very similar to the one above, that sets out the amount of units. Another number between 1 and 100 is generated, and the Wizard's total is added to it. If the result is equal to, or below 60, the unit or units will be . Between 61 and 90 they are , while above 90 they come with the maximum , which means they will be by default. Naturally, if the hiring player is a Warlord or has an active spell, these levels will be raised accordingly once the Mercenaries come under their employ. The Hiring Fee Mercenaries usually have a steep hiring cost, to offset the fact that they are immediately available if accepted. At their lowest level, this is twice the cost of their specific unit type, in . The exact formula is: Hiring Fee = Construction Cost × (Experience Level + 3) ÷ 2 Where would be considered "level 0", were they available as Mercenaries. Wizards with the Charismatic feat enjoy a 50% reduction from the cost of Mercenaries. However, it's worth noting that in the latest official version of the game, this bonus is only considered after checking whether the player can afford the price. That is, even though the Mercenaries may be cheaper to hire, they still won't show up unless the Wizard could also pay the full cost. This oversight is corrected in the unofficial Insecticide patch. Other Mechanics If accepted, Mercenaries are always deployed at the Town housing the player's Fortress. This is the main reason why banished Wizards will never be offered any - they simply lack the point of contact. However, the Mercenary units are not considered as having been produced in this City. This is relevant for two reasons. First, any discount that the capital may have towards the recruitment of "standard" Normal Units will not apply to Mercenaries. For example, they won't become cheaper to hire if the Town has a Coal deposit in its vicinity. Second, any benefits that the City itself might bestow on newly produced troops will not affect Mercenaries. This means that neither a War College nor an can grant them extra even if they are of a lower level than what these structures would provide; and their weapons and armor may not be upgraded by an Alchemists' Guild either. In fact, as they are not considered to be created by the Wizard whose employ they offer to be hired into, the Alchemy Retort does not apply to them either. As a result, Mercenaries can never have an improved weapon quality, and will always only possess normal weapons.